Local officials say this is the first confirmed activity of the virus in area mosquitoes this year.

However, other counties across Colorado have already reported positive tests to the state health department.

Jennifer House is a state public health veterinarian.

"We've recently had an increase in the number of positive mosquitoes," House says. "So far we have been able to find West Nile Virus positive mosquitoes in Boulder, Denver, Larimer, Mesa, Pueblo, and Weld counties."

Health officials say a Mesa County man hospitalized after contracting the virus is now recovering at home. He’s the first person to be diagnosed with it in Colorado so far this year, according to the state.

Thomas Orr is a regional epidemiologist at the Mesa County Health Department.

He’s the field operations manager for the North Fork Mosquito Abatement District. It’s a very small organization that tries to keep the local mosquito population under control. Their territory runs from Hotchkiss to Paonia and further up the valley.

Ken Nordstrom, Director of Environmental Health for Delta County, set those words as his voicemail message in response to a flurry of calls from North Fork area residents, who initially thought the health department was proposing to carry out aerial insecticide spraying throughout the county.